"
CSullivan
Bcare, in his Decades on St.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v4
Abban,^ in the district of Corca Duibhne, now Corcaguiney barony, in the
county of Kerry. One Coincheann, a daughter of Ceallach Cualann, died, a. d. 738, according to the " Annals of tlie Four Masters ;"3 but, we cannot feel assured, tliat slie may be identified with St. Conchind of Cill-Achaid. A festival is also recorded to her honour, at the 20th of August. It would seem, the present day, or that already mentioned, must have been her Natalis. This holy woman, called also Conchennia, is said to have been the sister of St. Kentigerna, or Centigerna, who has been already noticed, at the 7th day of Januar). '' Her royal parentage is there mentioned.
Article VIII. —Festival of St. Christopher, Martyr. In the Leabhar Breac copy of St. Angus' Feilire, a festival of St. Christopher is commemorated, at the 28th of April. In a sckolio? i affixed to this account, he is set down as a martyr," who suffered under Decius, with no less than 10,403 martyrs. " In the genuine Martyrology of Bede, as also in the Martyrologies of St. Raban Maur, and in the Manuscripts at Monte Cassino, at St. Maxi- min's and at St. Martin's church of Treves, and in Ado's Manuscript copy belonging to the Queen of Sweden, this feast has been recorded. However,
Kelly, p. xxii. In the Franciscan copy, we read CAUfn«n Ctudin ecli.
'
See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii. Ap- rilis xxviii. Among ihe pretermitted saints, p. 546.
'
See his Acts, at the 27th of October, 'See Dr. O'Donovan's edition, vol. i. ,
pp. 340, 341.
'See ''Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae," vii.
'
The
print for Cluainet or Cluainech, alias applied to him of being a cotichent), ren-
' Colgan thinks tliis may have been amis-
strange epithet is
Cluaineach. See "Acta Sanctorum Hibcr- nii! e,"ix. Februaiii. Vita S. Fursiei, n. 10, p. 299.
dered a "doghead," or "wolfhead. " See
Mrs. Jameson's "Sacred and Legendary Art,' p. 449.
• See his Life, at the l6th of
' An Irish is quoted, poem
following eulogy:—
s See
"
January. Lives of the Irish Saints," vol. i. ,
containing
chap, v. , n. 48. '"
See Colgan's Trias Th^iumaturga,"' Quarta Appendix ad Acta S. ColumbjE, cap. X , num. 14, p. 4S8, and p. 501.
' Ediied by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
Tloboclei\ech congliMne Hobe incpiib-oech ciMj-caise Ue^Aipm cemjimef •oa)xle|\ <XiMtim tjile]' Cpipcicep.
112, 113. — . \RTICLE VII.
Thus translated, by
Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxii. The Franciscan copy, at this
Whitley Stokes;
dale, enters ConchiiTO Cilli <Xchi'D.
Januiirii, n. 8, p —22. Article viii.
tlie
—
Dr.
"He was a cleric with jiurity : he was a pious Christian: before the call without
. April 29. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 537
in a certain document of tlie Carthusians, at Bnixelles, it is set down as the Translation of St. Christoi)her's reh'cs. The Natal day of this holy Martyr is thought to be the 25th of July. 1 There is a beautiful allusion •• to this holy martyr, who is thought to have carried Christ on his shoulders, over a sea ; although the allegorical meaning seems to be, that he carried our Redeemer
in his breast, while wading through a sea of temporal tribulation.
CtofntP-nintf) ©ay of 9pnl.
ARTICLE I. —ST. DIOCHU, OR DICHUS, OF . SABHA1. L, OR SAUL, COUNTY OF DOWN.
{FIFTH CENTURY. \
has been very generally supposed, that the first convert made by the IT illustrious Apostle of Ireland, after his mission had opened in Ulidia, was Dichu,' or Dichus,' or Dicluio,3 sometimes written Diochu, and Dichon,* who lived in that district, comprising the present Barony of Lecale, in the county of Down. The particulars of his conversion have been already alluded to, in the Life of St. Patrick. ' His early neophyte, having once em- braced the faith, afterwards led a most exemplary life. In the published Martyrology of Tallagh,* however, there is no notice of this pious convert, at the 29th of April; although the Bollandists ' refer to that calendar, and at that same date, for the entry Dichus de Sabhall. In Irish ecclesiastical history, he has attained much celebrity, and his story has often been related. * He de- scended from a distinguished family, who belonged to the northern part of
Ireland; and there he appears to have been born, perhaps, about tiie close of tlie fourth, or the beginning of the fifth, century. His father is said to have had a very numerous family of sons, whose names have been placed on record. Thus, we are informed, that Trichem, a chief of Uladh, had seven sons, viz. , Dichu of Sabhall, or Saul, Laeghaire of Dun, Ailill of Magh-bile, or Moville, Diiirthecht of Aeudruim, or Mahee Island, Eoghan of Cillcleithi, or Kiiclief. Ros of Dundaletbglas, or Downpatrick, and Niall of Cillcleithi, or
reproach over sea his proper name was Sexia Vita S. Patricii, cap. xxxii. , xxxiv. ,
Chiistopher. '
3 See the Bollanilisti' "Acta Sanctorum,"
toiiius iii. , Aprilis xxviii. Among the pre- termitted saints, p. 547.
*In the "Opera" of Vida, tomus ii. , Hymnus 26, th—ere is an Epigram, thus re-
xxxvi. , xxxviii. , pp. 71 to 73.
» See ibid. Quarta Vita S. Palricii, cap.
xxxiii. , p. 39.
'
See ibid. Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. , iii. , cap. Ivii. , p. 160.
* See ibid. Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. i. , cap. xlvii. , xlix. , li. , Iii. , pp. 124, 125.
5 See vol. iii. of this work, at tlie 17th of
fering to him
" Christophere,
Pictores Christum dant tibi ferre humeris," &c.
Articlk 1. — ' lie is 50 called, in Cnl-
"
S. P. itricii, cap. xxix. , p. 14. Also, in the Irish Celts," at p. 321.
gan's
"Trias
Thanmatiirg,! ,"
Secunda Vita
Pa'rick
Kennedy's
related, in Legendary Fictions of
:
infixum
eum
qnod usfjue in corde gerebas,
M. Trch, chap, vii. , '
viii.
Neither is it in the Franciscan copy.
'See "Acta Sanctorum,' tomus iii. , Aprilis xxix. Among the pretermitted saints,
p.
611.
« Ihe Fortune of Dichu is
538 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [Apru. ip.
Kilclief. 9 These were of the race of Fiatach Finn, the ancestor of the Dal Fiatach, a strictly Ultonian tribe. The patrimony of Dichuo seems to have been near tl)e southern shore of Lough Cuan, now Lough Strangford, and wliere a small river, formerly called the Slaney, enters into the sea. There, he had a swineherd employed, who, on the arrival of St. Patrick and of Jiis companions, gave the alarm to his master. He thought these strangers were to be regarded as thieves or pirates. Jocelyn relates, that when St. Patrick first opened his Irish mission in the north, which is generally thought to have been A. D. 432, a certain man named Dichu, who was powerful of strength, gigantic of stature, and savage of mind, '° occupied the district in that quarter. " where the Irish Apostle landed in Ulidia. Dichuo " brought dogs to attack the voyagers, but he was unable to succeed in his purpose. As when the prophet sent from Juda to Bethal was opposed by the king sacrificing to idols, and when Jereboam stretciied forth his hand against the man of God, the king's hand withered, so that he was not able to again withdraw it, until the prophet interposed in his behalf ;'3 so, it would seem, such a miracle took ])lace, in the case of Dichuo. St. Patrick and his companions are said, by Probus, to have landed, at an island, called Milclion;''* but, this seems to be a mistake for Mag-Inis, a low-lying island in the district known as Leth- Cathuil, or Lecale. 's Tliis chieftain brandished his sword intending to destroy the saint. But, the Lord interposed his protecting anin, all Dichu's strength withered, and he entirely stiffened, so that he could move, neither his foot to go forwards, nor liis hands to strike. Experiencing such a miracle, suddenly Dichuo changed into another man ; and from being proud becoming humble, his fierceness was changed into mildness, from an infidel, he became a be- liever, with all his household, at the preaching of St. Patrick, and lie was baptized in the Christian faith. "^ As his soul was then loosed from the chains of sin, so were his limbs loosed from their heaviness, and all their strength was restored unto them. Thus, he who had been the first and principal opposer of the Faith in Ireland, became its first professor, and even to his latest age, he continued its most devoted follower.
To atone for his former obstinacy, Dichu presented a place, called
Sabhal, now Saul,"' where St. Patrick might erect a church. To this
proposal, the great Irish Apostle most willingly assented. Dichu requested it might be erected in a direction, lying north and south. "' On account of some peculiarity in its position, or use, the name Sab- hall, which means "a barn," was probably applied to the original church. '9
5 All their churches were witliiiiTrichem's "See Miss Corner's of Julia "History
territory, as we are told, by Rev. Dr. Irehnd," p. 16.
Reeves, in Note i, to the "Martyrology of
lJonegal,"at April 29th, p. 114. However, we doubt, if-iU tlieir places may be converted into churches, with which they had been connected.
'"See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Vita Sexta S. Patricii, cap. xxxii. , p. 72.
" His castle is said to have been where
Saul is now built, a village about two miles
from Downpatrick.
" CSullivan Bcare, in his Decades on St.
Patrick, has an account of Dichuo, lib. i. , cap. vii. , and lil). iii. , cap. i.
'3 See iii. Kings xiii. , i to 6.
'* See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Vita S. Patricii, lib. i. . cap. xxviii. , p. 49-
'= See ibiJ. , n. 30, p. 63.
'' Tlie monastic remains there, about the middle of the last century, are very interest- inyly described, by Walter Harris, in his "Ancient and Present State of the County of Down. " cliap. i. , sect, ii. , pp. 39, 40.
'"Jocelyn confesses his inability to dis-
over tlie re. is^in for such a request; but, he
conjectures, it might have the mystic mean-
ing. that those persons who had been then
adiiicted to the worship of idols might be
persuaded from the northern coldness of un-
belief, to the meridian fervour of the faith
and to the charily of Christ. In the twelfth
century, this church was called Sabhall Pha-
druiijh. that is, the Uarn of P. itrick. See
"
Trias Thiiumaturya," Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap. xxxii. , p. 72.
Colgan's
'» See Rev. William Reeves' " Ecclesiasti-
April 29. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. S39
This church of Saul was the first founded, by St. Patrick ; its ground was the first consecrated and offered in Ulster, for a religious purpose ; while its donor Dichu was the first convert known, in that part of Ireland. •" The year 432 is said to have been that for its first ecclesiastical appropriation ;" and, it was probably erected, under tlie personal super\ision of St. Patrick and by his band of missionaries. After the foundation of this first Irish church, St. Patrick went northwards, to visit his former master Milcho, or Miliuc ; but, he failed in effecting a conversion, and afterwards, he came back to the house of Dichu, in the plain of Inish. '^ In that beautiful country around, St. Patrick wrought many miracles, and preaclied the Gospel, while he received many professions of the true Faith from the inhabitants. The monarch of Ireland, King Leoghaire,'3 detained two of Dichuo's sons as hostages at that time, and he decreed, that they should be put to death, because their father had given sanctuary and protection to St. Patrick. However, owing to the holy prayers of the Irish . Apostle, both of those young nobles obtained their freedom. We have no furdier account of Dicluio, in the various Lives of St. Patrick ; but, it is reasonable to conjecture, that tlie local dynast passed his days at or near Saul, where it seems probable he died and was buried. In process of time, St. Patrick built there a suitable monastery, to which he introduced monks, who had passed their novititate under him. For their use, not long afterwards, and through his prayers, St. Patrick produced a fountain out of the earth. Over that
to be Abbot. When the holy Apostle had returned from his mission probably in the south of Ireland —he dwelt with Dunnius ' not a few days. ^5 The feast of St. Patrick's disciple Dichuo has been assigned, to the 29th of April, by Father John Colgan. '* At this date, also, he had intended to dilate on Dichuo's Acts. ^7 St. Dicha is set down in Henry Fitzsimon's List of Irish Saints, but the date for his festival is not recorded. '* On the 29th day of April was venerated, Diochu, of Sabhall, as we read in the Martyrology of Donegal. "' It is likely, says the calendarist, that this is the Dichu, son of Trichera, descended from the race of Fiatach Finn, monarch of Erin ; and that it was he, who gave Sabhell, to Patrick ; and that it was on him Patrick bestowed the famous blessing, by which he promised Dichu the kingdom of heaven. 3° As if doubting his own identification, the author then adds : there
cal Antiquities of Down, Connor and Dro- *< It is thought by Colgan, that this holy more," p. 40, n. (I). Also, Appendix man may have tjeen the Moduinus of Maria-
of Saul did he his St. — monastery appoint disciple, Dunnius,
O, pp. 220 to 223, and Appendix LL, p. 377.
"See Colgan's "Trias Thaumattirg. i," Vita Tripartita, orSeptima Vita S. Pairicii, pars. I, cap. xlvii. , p. 124.
"See Ussher's " Britannicarum Eccle-
siarum -Antiquitates," Index Chronoloyicus, A. D ccccxxxil.
nus O'Gorman, who places his feast, at the 29th of May.
'5 gge Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Sexta Vila S. Patricil, cap. xxxii. , p. 72, and n. 33, p. no.
"See;iS/'(/. , QiiintaAppendixadActaS. Patricii, cap. xxiii. , p. 265.
"
Iris, because this district was not an I^l. ind
sirictly so called, but rather a peninsula, of
exceeding great fertility, and washed by the
surrounding sea. See Colgan's "Tiias lib. iv. , cap. xii. , p. 53.
It has been Latinised insula Campis-
47, p. 19. ^"
Thaumaturga," Secunda Vita S. Patricii, cap. XXX. , p. 14, and n. 51, p. 19.
'3 According to some accounts, this mon- arch is said to have embr. iced Christianity,
^ Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, ]. p.
114, 115.
'° In the quatrain, which may be founiMu
the Life of Patrick, a—nd as translated into
after the preaching of St. Patrick at Taia
it is written
"The blessing of God on Dichu,
Wlio gave me the Sabhall ; He shall be thereafter
Heavenly, splendid, most famous," &c.
while others niainiain. lie apo-tatized, after
receiving biptism. See Rev. Dr. Thom. is
Leiand's " of vol. i. Pre- History Ireland,"
liminary Discourse, p. xx.
;
English,
;
^' See
ji>/(/. ,
Secunda Vita S. Patricii, n.
See Catalogus aliquorum Sanctorum
—O'SuUivan IJcare's "Ilistorite Catholicae Iberniie Compendium," tomus i. ,
Ibeniiic. "
most
540 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 29.
is a Modichu, we are told, descended from the race of Brian, son of Eochaidh Muighmbedlioin. It may be, that he is identical with this Dichu, as some, saytheO'Clerys,understand. Thislatteropinion,however,seemsinadmis- sible, for that Modichu was brother to St. Bairre,^' of Cork, and son of Aimer- gerr, who was ninth in descent from Brian, son of Eochaidh Muighmedhain, and who was the founder of a distinguished Connacian family. 3» On the other hand, it may be questionable, if Uichuo has been ranked among the saints of our earliest calendars ; although, his conversion and subsequent life, accord- ing to nearly all the ancient Lives of St. Patrick, give him a claim on our
consideration, as a special benefactor of Christianity in our Island, and as the the true and loyal friend of her great Apostle.
Article II. —St. Cuach, or Coiningean, Virgin, of Fionnmagh Church, and said to have been of Killeen Cormac, County KiLDARE. \_Fiflh or Sixth Centuryi\ The real history of St. Cuach, or St. Coiningean, it is now difficult to ascertain. We find recorded, in the Martyr- ology of Tallagh,' at the 29th of April, Coningen . i. Cuach . i. Ci Finn Maighi. The Bollandists ' have, at this date, Coningenia seu Cuacha in Lagenia. The glossographer to the Calendar of St. ^ngus has an alternative conjecture, thatConingenmayhavebeenCondingenofthefamilyofMochuda3 ofLis-
more, and belonging to the Deciesof Munster, descending from the Coningnig, a tribe to the north of Sliab Cua, whose place was Ard Finain ; but, he thinks it truer, that Coningen was a girl, otherwise called Conach, of Cell Finnmaige. * We are informed, that the maiden Coninghen or Cuach was uterinesistertoCaerahin,? ofAnatriminOssory,andtoSt. Attracta. * Her mother was Caemell, daughter to Cenendan or Cen Finnan, son of Cesi, son to Lughair, of the Ui Lugair. By her first husband, Talan, Caemell became mother to the foregoing saints. Her second husband is said to have been CaemlogoftheDalmessincorb,bywhomshehadCaemghinorKevin? of Glendalough, and Naithcheam,^ or Mochoema Mac Ui Lughair, said to have been the Abbot and founder of Terryglass,! * in the county of Tipperary. '° Coeningean is described more particularly, elsewhere, and she is said to have been a daughter toa King of Leinster. " A curious tradition regarding her was, that she had a great nail on her finger, like to a wolf's nail, and this is stated, by the scholiast on the Feilire of St. ^ngus. " In a note on the Martyrology of Marianus O'Gorman, her place is described,'3 as being in Fionn-maighe, in Ui Feneclais in Fortuatha in Laighen. Cille-Fionn Maigh, ortheChurchofFionn-magh,is saidtohavebeenintheterritoryoftheFot- harts, or within the immigrants' districts. The Leinster Fothuartha were in the
3" Venerated at the 25th of September.
3" . See note (i) by Rev. Dr. Reeves, to the " Martyrology of Donegal," at April 29th,
' Venerated at the 3i-d of November.
'Her feast occurs, at the 9th of Feb-
ruary.
^ See his Life, at the of
3rd June.
p. 114. Article ii.
xxii.
—
In the Franciscan
^ His feast
Kelly, p.
find Comnjen . 1. Cuach niAige.
copy,
we
' Edited
the Rev. Dr.
to the 1st of
' According to most accounts, St. Coiumba, the son of Crintliam, whose feast was kept
rilis xxix. Among the pretermitted saints,
p. 6ll.
3 His Life occurs, at the 14th of May. •See "Transactions of the Royal Irish
Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. The Calendar of Oengus, edited l)y Whitley
Stokes, LL. D. , p. Ixxvii.
county of Kerry. One Coincheann, a daughter of Ceallach Cualann, died, a. d. 738, according to the " Annals of tlie Four Masters ;"3 but, we cannot feel assured, tliat slie may be identified with St. Conchind of Cill-Achaid. A festival is also recorded to her honour, at the 20th of August. It would seem, the present day, or that already mentioned, must have been her Natalis. This holy woman, called also Conchennia, is said to have been the sister of St. Kentigerna, or Centigerna, who has been already noticed, at the 7th day of Januar). '' Her royal parentage is there mentioned.
Article VIII. —Festival of St. Christopher, Martyr. In the Leabhar Breac copy of St. Angus' Feilire, a festival of St. Christopher is commemorated, at the 28th of April. In a sckolio? i affixed to this account, he is set down as a martyr," who suffered under Decius, with no less than 10,403 martyrs. " In the genuine Martyrology of Bede, as also in the Martyrologies of St. Raban Maur, and in the Manuscripts at Monte Cassino, at St. Maxi- min's and at St. Martin's church of Treves, and in Ado's Manuscript copy belonging to the Queen of Sweden, this feast has been recorded. However,
Kelly, p. xxii. In the Franciscan copy, we read CAUfn«n Ctudin ecli.
'
See "Acta Sanctorum," tomus iii. Ap- rilis xxviii. Among ihe pretermitted saints, p. 546.
'
See his Acts, at the 27th of October, 'See Dr. O'Donovan's edition, vol. i. ,
pp. 340, 341.
'See ''Acta Sanctorum Hiberniae," vii.
'
The
print for Cluainet or Cluainech, alias applied to him of being a cotichent), ren-
' Colgan thinks tliis may have been amis-
strange epithet is
Cluaineach. See "Acta Sanctorum Hibcr- nii! e,"ix. Februaiii. Vita S. Fursiei, n. 10, p. 299.
dered a "doghead," or "wolfhead. " See
Mrs. Jameson's "Sacred and Legendary Art,' p. 449.
• See his Life, at the l6th of
' An Irish is quoted, poem
following eulogy:—
s See
"
January. Lives of the Irish Saints," vol. i. ,
containing
chap, v. , n. 48. '"
See Colgan's Trias Th^iumaturga,"' Quarta Appendix ad Acta S. ColumbjE, cap. X , num. 14, p. 4S8, and p. 501.
' Ediied by Drs. Todd and Reeves, pp.
Tloboclei\ech congliMne Hobe incpiib-oech ciMj-caise Ue^Aipm cemjimef •oa)xle|\ <XiMtim tjile]' Cpipcicep.
112, 113. — . \RTICLE VII.
Thus translated, by
Edited by Rev. Dr. Kelly, p. xxii. The Franciscan copy, at this
Whitley Stokes;
dale, enters ConchiiTO Cilli <Xchi'D.
Januiirii, n. 8, p —22. Article viii.
tlie
—
Dr.
"He was a cleric with jiurity : he was a pious Christian: before the call without
. April 29. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 537
in a certain document of tlie Carthusians, at Bnixelles, it is set down as the Translation of St. Christoi)her's reh'cs. The Natal day of this holy Martyr is thought to be the 25th of July. 1 There is a beautiful allusion •• to this holy martyr, who is thought to have carried Christ on his shoulders, over a sea ; although the allegorical meaning seems to be, that he carried our Redeemer
in his breast, while wading through a sea of temporal tribulation.
CtofntP-nintf) ©ay of 9pnl.
ARTICLE I. —ST. DIOCHU, OR DICHUS, OF . SABHA1. L, OR SAUL, COUNTY OF DOWN.
{FIFTH CENTURY. \
has been very generally supposed, that the first convert made by the IT illustrious Apostle of Ireland, after his mission had opened in Ulidia, was Dichu,' or Dichus,' or Dicluio,3 sometimes written Diochu, and Dichon,* who lived in that district, comprising the present Barony of Lecale, in the county of Down. The particulars of his conversion have been already alluded to, in the Life of St. Patrick. ' His early neophyte, having once em- braced the faith, afterwards led a most exemplary life. In the published Martyrology of Tallagh,* however, there is no notice of this pious convert, at the 29th of April; although the Bollandists ' refer to that calendar, and at that same date, for the entry Dichus de Sabhall. In Irish ecclesiastical history, he has attained much celebrity, and his story has often been related. * He de- scended from a distinguished family, who belonged to the northern part of
Ireland; and there he appears to have been born, perhaps, about tiie close of tlie fourth, or the beginning of the fifth, century. His father is said to have had a very numerous family of sons, whose names have been placed on record. Thus, we are informed, that Trichem, a chief of Uladh, had seven sons, viz. , Dichu of Sabhall, or Saul, Laeghaire of Dun, Ailill of Magh-bile, or Moville, Diiirthecht of Aeudruim, or Mahee Island, Eoghan of Cillcleithi, or Kiiclief. Ros of Dundaletbglas, or Downpatrick, and Niall of Cillcleithi, or
reproach over sea his proper name was Sexia Vita S. Patricii, cap. xxxii. , xxxiv. ,
Chiistopher. '
3 See the Bollanilisti' "Acta Sanctorum,"
toiiius iii. , Aprilis xxviii. Among the pre- termitted saints, p. 547.
*In the "Opera" of Vida, tomus ii. , Hymnus 26, th—ere is an Epigram, thus re-
xxxvi. , xxxviii. , pp. 71 to 73.
» See ibid. Quarta Vita S. Palricii, cap.
xxxiii. , p. 39.
'
See ibid. Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. , iii. , cap. Ivii. , p. 160.
* See ibid. Septima Vita S. Patricii, lib. i. , cap. xlvii. , xlix. , li. , Iii. , pp. 124, 125.
5 See vol. iii. of this work, at tlie 17th of
fering to him
" Christophere,
Pictores Christum dant tibi ferre humeris," &c.
Articlk 1. — ' lie is 50 called, in Cnl-
"
S. P. itricii, cap. xxix. , p. 14. Also, in the Irish Celts," at p. 321.
gan's
"Trias
Thanmatiirg,! ,"
Secunda Vita
Pa'rick
Kennedy's
related, in Legendary Fictions of
:
infixum
eum
qnod usfjue in corde gerebas,
M. Trch, chap, vii. , '
viii.
Neither is it in the Franciscan copy.
'See "Acta Sanctorum,' tomus iii. , Aprilis xxix. Among the pretermitted saints,
p.
611.
« Ihe Fortune of Dichu is
538 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [Apru. ip.
Kilclief. 9 These were of the race of Fiatach Finn, the ancestor of the Dal Fiatach, a strictly Ultonian tribe. The patrimony of Dichuo seems to have been near tl)e southern shore of Lough Cuan, now Lough Strangford, and wliere a small river, formerly called the Slaney, enters into the sea. There, he had a swineherd employed, who, on the arrival of St. Patrick and of Jiis companions, gave the alarm to his master. He thought these strangers were to be regarded as thieves or pirates. Jocelyn relates, that when St. Patrick first opened his Irish mission in the north, which is generally thought to have been A. D. 432, a certain man named Dichu, who was powerful of strength, gigantic of stature, and savage of mind, '° occupied the district in that quarter. " where the Irish Apostle landed in Ulidia. Dichuo " brought dogs to attack the voyagers, but he was unable to succeed in his purpose. As when the prophet sent from Juda to Bethal was opposed by the king sacrificing to idols, and when Jereboam stretciied forth his hand against the man of God, the king's hand withered, so that he was not able to again withdraw it, until the prophet interposed in his behalf ;'3 so, it would seem, such a miracle took ])lace, in the case of Dichuo. St. Patrick and his companions are said, by Probus, to have landed, at an island, called Milclion;''* but, this seems to be a mistake for Mag-Inis, a low-lying island in the district known as Leth- Cathuil, or Lecale. 's Tliis chieftain brandished his sword intending to destroy the saint. But, the Lord interposed his protecting anin, all Dichu's strength withered, and he entirely stiffened, so that he could move, neither his foot to go forwards, nor liis hands to strike. Experiencing such a miracle, suddenly Dichuo changed into another man ; and from being proud becoming humble, his fierceness was changed into mildness, from an infidel, he became a be- liever, with all his household, at the preaching of St. Patrick, and lie was baptized in the Christian faith. "^ As his soul was then loosed from the chains of sin, so were his limbs loosed from their heaviness, and all their strength was restored unto them. Thus, he who had been the first and principal opposer of the Faith in Ireland, became its first professor, and even to his latest age, he continued its most devoted follower.
To atone for his former obstinacy, Dichu presented a place, called
Sabhal, now Saul,"' where St. Patrick might erect a church. To this
proposal, the great Irish Apostle most willingly assented. Dichu requested it might be erected in a direction, lying north and south. "' On account of some peculiarity in its position, or use, the name Sab- hall, which means "a barn," was probably applied to the original church. '9
5 All their churches were witliiiiTrichem's "See Miss Corner's of Julia "History
territory, as we are told, by Rev. Dr. Irehnd," p. 16.
Reeves, in Note i, to the "Martyrology of
lJonegal,"at April 29th, p. 114. However, we doubt, if-iU tlieir places may be converted into churches, with which they had been connected.
'"See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Vita Sexta S. Patricii, cap. xxxii. , p. 72.
" His castle is said to have been where
Saul is now built, a village about two miles
from Downpatrick.
" CSullivan Bcare, in his Decades on St.
Patrick, has an account of Dichuo, lib. i. , cap. vii. , and lil). iii. , cap. i.
'3 See iii. Kings xiii. , i to 6.
'* See Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Quinta Vita S. Patricii, lib. i. . cap. xxviii. , p. 49-
'= See ibiJ. , n. 30, p. 63.
'' Tlie monastic remains there, about the middle of the last century, are very interest- inyly described, by Walter Harris, in his "Ancient and Present State of the County of Down. " cliap. i. , sect, ii. , pp. 39, 40.
'"Jocelyn confesses his inability to dis-
over tlie re. is^in for such a request; but, he
conjectures, it might have the mystic mean-
ing. that those persons who had been then
adiiicted to the worship of idols might be
persuaded from the northern coldness of un-
belief, to the meridian fervour of the faith
and to the charily of Christ. In the twelfth
century, this church was called Sabhall Pha-
druiijh. that is, the Uarn of P. itrick. See
"
Trias Thiiumaturya," Sexta Vita S. Patricii, cap. xxxii. , p. 72.
Colgan's
'» See Rev. William Reeves' " Ecclesiasti-
April 29. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. S39
This church of Saul was the first founded, by St. Patrick ; its ground was the first consecrated and offered in Ulster, for a religious purpose ; while its donor Dichu was the first convert known, in that part of Ireland. •" The year 432 is said to have been that for its first ecclesiastical appropriation ;" and, it was probably erected, under tlie personal super\ision of St. Patrick and by his band of missionaries. After the foundation of this first Irish church, St. Patrick went northwards, to visit his former master Milcho, or Miliuc ; but, he failed in effecting a conversion, and afterwards, he came back to the house of Dichu, in the plain of Inish. '^ In that beautiful country around, St. Patrick wrought many miracles, and preaclied the Gospel, while he received many professions of the true Faith from the inhabitants. The monarch of Ireland, King Leoghaire,'3 detained two of Dichuo's sons as hostages at that time, and he decreed, that they should be put to death, because their father had given sanctuary and protection to St. Patrick. However, owing to the holy prayers of the Irish . Apostle, both of those young nobles obtained their freedom. We have no furdier account of Dicluio, in the various Lives of St. Patrick ; but, it is reasonable to conjecture, that tlie local dynast passed his days at or near Saul, where it seems probable he died and was buried. In process of time, St. Patrick built there a suitable monastery, to which he introduced monks, who had passed their novititate under him. For their use, not long afterwards, and through his prayers, St. Patrick produced a fountain out of the earth. Over that
to be Abbot. When the holy Apostle had returned from his mission probably in the south of Ireland —he dwelt with Dunnius ' not a few days. ^5 The feast of St. Patrick's disciple Dichuo has been assigned, to the 29th of April, by Father John Colgan. '* At this date, also, he had intended to dilate on Dichuo's Acts. ^7 St. Dicha is set down in Henry Fitzsimon's List of Irish Saints, but the date for his festival is not recorded. '* On the 29th day of April was venerated, Diochu, of Sabhall, as we read in the Martyrology of Donegal. "' It is likely, says the calendarist, that this is the Dichu, son of Trichera, descended from the race of Fiatach Finn, monarch of Erin ; and that it was he, who gave Sabhell, to Patrick ; and that it was on him Patrick bestowed the famous blessing, by which he promised Dichu the kingdom of heaven. 3° As if doubting his own identification, the author then adds : there
cal Antiquities of Down, Connor and Dro- *< It is thought by Colgan, that this holy more," p. 40, n. (I). Also, Appendix man may have tjeen the Moduinus of Maria-
of Saul did he his St. — monastery appoint disciple, Dunnius,
O, pp. 220 to 223, and Appendix LL, p. 377.
"See Colgan's "Trias Thaumattirg. i," Vita Tripartita, orSeptima Vita S. Pairicii, pars. I, cap. xlvii. , p. 124.
"See Ussher's " Britannicarum Eccle-
siarum -Antiquitates," Index Chronoloyicus, A. D ccccxxxil.
nus O'Gorman, who places his feast, at the 29th of May.
'5 gge Colgan's "Trias Thaumaturga," Sexta Vila S. Patricil, cap. xxxii. , p. 72, and n. 33, p. no.
"See;iS/'(/. , QiiintaAppendixadActaS. Patricii, cap. xxiii. , p. 265.
"
Iris, because this district was not an I^l. ind
sirictly so called, but rather a peninsula, of
exceeding great fertility, and washed by the
surrounding sea. See Colgan's "Tiias lib. iv. , cap. xii. , p. 53.
It has been Latinised insula Campis-
47, p. 19. ^"
Thaumaturga," Secunda Vita S. Patricii, cap. XXX. , p. 14, and n. 51, p. 19.
'3 According to some accounts, this mon- arch is said to have embr. iced Christianity,
^ Edited by Drs. Todd and Reeves, ]. p.
114, 115.
'° In the quatrain, which may be founiMu
the Life of Patrick, a—nd as translated into
after the preaching of St. Patrick at Taia
it is written
"The blessing of God on Dichu,
Wlio gave me the Sabhall ; He shall be thereafter
Heavenly, splendid, most famous," &c.
while others niainiain. lie apo-tatized, after
receiving biptism. See Rev. Dr. Thom. is
Leiand's " of vol. i. Pre- History Ireland,"
liminary Discourse, p. xx.
;
English,
;
^' See
ji>/(/. ,
Secunda Vita S. Patricii, n.
See Catalogus aliquorum Sanctorum
—O'SuUivan IJcare's "Ilistorite Catholicae Iberniie Compendium," tomus i. ,
Ibeniiic. "
most
540 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 29.
is a Modichu, we are told, descended from the race of Brian, son of Eochaidh Muighmbedlioin. It may be, that he is identical with this Dichu, as some, saytheO'Clerys,understand. Thislatteropinion,however,seemsinadmis- sible, for that Modichu was brother to St. Bairre,^' of Cork, and son of Aimer- gerr, who was ninth in descent from Brian, son of Eochaidh Muighmedhain, and who was the founder of a distinguished Connacian family. 3» On the other hand, it may be questionable, if Uichuo has been ranked among the saints of our earliest calendars ; although, his conversion and subsequent life, accord- ing to nearly all the ancient Lives of St. Patrick, give him a claim on our
consideration, as a special benefactor of Christianity in our Island, and as the the true and loyal friend of her great Apostle.
Article II. —St. Cuach, or Coiningean, Virgin, of Fionnmagh Church, and said to have been of Killeen Cormac, County KiLDARE. \_Fiflh or Sixth Centuryi\ The real history of St. Cuach, or St. Coiningean, it is now difficult to ascertain. We find recorded, in the Martyr- ology of Tallagh,' at the 29th of April, Coningen . i. Cuach . i. Ci Finn Maighi. The Bollandists ' have, at this date, Coningenia seu Cuacha in Lagenia. The glossographer to the Calendar of St. ^ngus has an alternative conjecture, thatConingenmayhavebeenCondingenofthefamilyofMochuda3 ofLis-
more, and belonging to the Deciesof Munster, descending from the Coningnig, a tribe to the north of Sliab Cua, whose place was Ard Finain ; but, he thinks it truer, that Coningen was a girl, otherwise called Conach, of Cell Finnmaige. * We are informed, that the maiden Coninghen or Cuach was uterinesistertoCaerahin,? ofAnatriminOssory,andtoSt. Attracta. * Her mother was Caemell, daughter to Cenendan or Cen Finnan, son of Cesi, son to Lughair, of the Ui Lugair. By her first husband, Talan, Caemell became mother to the foregoing saints. Her second husband is said to have been CaemlogoftheDalmessincorb,bywhomshehadCaemghinorKevin? of Glendalough, and Naithcheam,^ or Mochoema Mac Ui Lughair, said to have been the Abbot and founder of Terryglass,! * in the county of Tipperary. '° Coeningean is described more particularly, elsewhere, and she is said to have been a daughter toa King of Leinster. " A curious tradition regarding her was, that she had a great nail on her finger, like to a wolf's nail, and this is stated, by the scholiast on the Feilire of St. ^ngus. " In a note on the Martyrology of Marianus O'Gorman, her place is described,'3 as being in Fionn-maighe, in Ui Feneclais in Fortuatha in Laighen. Cille-Fionn Maigh, ortheChurchofFionn-magh,is saidtohavebeenintheterritoryoftheFot- harts, or within the immigrants' districts. The Leinster Fothuartha were in the
3" Venerated at the 25th of September.
3" . See note (i) by Rev. Dr. Reeves, to the " Martyrology of Donegal," at April 29th,
' Venerated at the 3i-d of November.
'Her feast occurs, at the 9th of Feb-
ruary.
^ See his Life, at the of
3rd June.
p. 114. Article ii.
xxii.
—
In the Franciscan
^ His feast
Kelly, p.
find Comnjen . 1. Cuach niAige.
copy,
we
' Edited
the Rev. Dr.
to the 1st of
' According to most accounts, St. Coiumba, the son of Crintliam, whose feast was kept
rilis xxix. Among the pretermitted saints,
p. 6ll.
3 His Life occurs, at the 14th of May. •See "Transactions of the Royal Irish
Academy," Irish Manuscript Series, vol. i. The Calendar of Oengus, edited l)y Whitley
Stokes, LL. D. , p. Ixxvii.
